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Monday, November 10, 2014

Faithful Finish Lines

Silence.

That's what you've heard on the blog these last ten days. After the flurry of writing in October, I took some time away from the blog to just be. Thirty-one straight (almost) days of writing was quite the challenge! One I'm proud to have participated in and conquered (even if I didn't write every single day). {You can read all the 31 days of simply writing posts here!}

You see, that's the thing I learned during the challenge: to not let one or two or three days of not writing keep me from finishing.

It's OK to give myself grace.

But then I have to pick up where I left off and keep going.

It's also an important lesson I've learned this week while participating in the Faithful Finish Lines fitness group. FFL is a 7 week program developed and led by Sara Borgstede which offers encouragement and accountability all while helping those of us on this journey to create and complete a specific fitness goal.

Say what?!

So if you've known me any length of time you know I'm hugely overweight. Always have been. Well, except from like birth to 6 years old. Once I turned 7 it was like the pounds just crept up on me and never left no matter how active I was! Well, except that one time when I went to India and faithfully woke up every day for mandatory exercise at 7am and then walked a bazillion miles every day to get wherever we were going for five months. 40 pounds melted right off me those months regardless of the number of cokes I drank or the fact that I ate a Big Mac (lamb burger, anyone?) every day.

But anyway... So I've joined the FFL group not because I have a huge desire to lose weight and be super skinny. Never have been skinny and never will be. Weight has never defined me as a person. It's a number on a scale. That's it. Weight has never stopped me from being ME or achieving the goals in life I've set out for myself. It doesn't matter if I'm 100 lbs or 400 lbs in terms of who I am or what I want to do in this life.

With that said, the older I've become the more I realize that the weight I carry often causes me physical pain and fatigue. Several years ago I started working out and eating better, and one of the results from doing so was all this energy! It was amazing to finally not be tired all the time. But I quickly became discouraged because my goal then was to lose weight yet the pounds weren't coming off. So I quit.

But this past week I've picked up where I left off several years ago and I'm moving forward. The steps forward are baby steps, but they're steps nonetheless.

This week I've kept track of my eating habits and caloric intake by using MyFitnessPal as well as my exercise (or lack thereof) with RunKeeper. I've also made plans to meet with a friend of mine to learn the art of clean eating and possibly some personal training. I've also been reading and chatting with some of the other FFL participants, which has been so encouraging. Not to mention, I love receiving encouraging and inspiring emails from Sara a couple of times a week. She's been where I've been but has also seen the other side.

I'm looking forward to seeing the other side as well. 😊

Have you ever started a journey, fitness or otherwise, only to find yourself discouraged? Did you quit or did you keep going?

I've always struggled with my weight too. The last couple of years I've made great progress but it isn't always easy. MyFitnessPal is one of my fave apps. I have a FitBit now and love it! Good luck! You can do it!!!

Thanks, Tara! Weight loss is such a struggle. Hoping this 7 weeks really does help recreate my mindset about things so that I can truly make a change.

I've wanted a FitBit for a while now but haven't been able to splurge yet. Since Cbristmas is coming up, I may out it in my wish list for Santa. 😊 Or wait until taxes come in. What do you find are the benefits of having it versus simply using apps on your phone?

Ha ha! No, no posts about my adventures in India. Though I've thought about it. 😊

Yeah, lamb burgers are all they had in India at the time I was there. Probably still the same today. Indians typically are not beef eatera due to their religious beliefs. Surprisingly, lamb burgers are pretty tasty!😊

Thank you for the encouragement, Sara! Took a walk this evening and was thinking about my goal. I would like to do a 5k but am terribly slow right now. Took me 30ish minutes to walk 1.2 miles! One of my bigger goals is to actually run a 5k. I dream about running but have never done more than jog a little. Being as heavy as I am it is difficult to do. But one day I will!

You TOTALLY can set a goal to do a 5K! I did my first one when I was coming down the scale. I was getting thinner but I wasn't at my goal weight. Those of us who are heavier do need to be careful of knees and other joints, but if you start slow and gradually build you should be fine. Have you invested in good quality shoes? This is especially important for us. I'm still on the heavier side and work out a lot so I go through shoes pretty quickly. (Unfortunately -- they are expensive -- ugh -- but it's an investment that is worth it.)

I love that my FitBit tracks my steps. I also love that it will track sleep, that you can track calories etc. The FitBit syncs to the FitBit app on my phone. I have lots of friends who have a FitBit and we can compete against each other. I've really enjoyed the friendly competition.